[Veterinary medicine--the art of veterinary practice]

Veterinary surgery as a precursor of veterinary medicine must have had its origins as early as the prehistory of the Mesolithic. A nascent emotional life resulted in the differentiation of pastoral cultures from the hunters of former times. Curing and healing, also of animals, has become a science today, which is practised professionally and is based on professional knowledge. The marked development of veterinary medicine as a multidisciplinary science involves the risk of the patient's entity being reduced to mere physical problems. Bernard E. Rollin writes about his concern at this reduction in a paper which appeared in J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc., Vol. 182, No. 2. He arrives at far-reaching conclusions, at any rate where the U.S.A. is concerned. Although the risks of some degree of reduction and a mechanistic approach are not entirely imaginary in the Netherlands, his conclusions cannot be completely accepted by the present author. The paper by fellow veterinarian F. J. van Sluys (in: Tijdschr. Diergeneeskd. 1983; 108: 520-5) presents a view of systems of patient administration on various lines. However, any endeavour to attain efficient brevity in this administration may bring the risk of some form of reduction nearer. This could be avoided in Van Sluys's system by previously printed basic forms in which all aspects of veterinary acts to be discussed in the following are taken into account.